TheKalki Purana (Sanskrit: कल्कपुरण, romanized: Kalkipurāṇa) is a Vaishnava Hindu text about the tenth avatar of Vishnu named Kalki.[1] The Sanskrit text was likely composed in Bengal during an era when the region was being ruled by the Bengal Sultanate or the Mughal Empire. Wendy Doniger dates it to sometime between 1500 AD and 1700 AD. It has a floruit of 1726 AD based on a manuscript discovered in Dhaka, Bangladesh.[1][2]
It is not one of the 18 Maha-Puranas (great Puranas), and is counted as an Upapurana or secondary Purana. The extant text exists in many versions, which vary in structure and details. Some do not divide the text into sections and have about 35 chapters. One manuscript comprises three aṃśas (sections) consisting 7 and 21 chapters respectively.[3]
The beginning of the Kalki Purana describes Kali's lineage starting with Brahma, his great-great-grandfather, and ending with the birth of his children's children. Instead of being born of poison from the churning of the ocean of milk according to other Hindu texts, he is the product of a long line of incestuous monsters born from Brahma's back. Kali is the great-great-grandson of Brahma. He is the son of Krodha (Anger) and his sister-turned-wife Himsa (Violence). He is the grandson of Dambha (Vanity) and his sister Maya (Illusion). He is the great-grandson of Adharma (Impropriety) and his wife, Mithya (Falsehood). Adharma was originally created from Brahma's back as a malinapataka (a very dark and deadly sinful object). Kali and his family were created by Brahma to hasten the dissolution of the cosmos after the pralaya period was over. When his family takes human form on earth, they further taint the hearts and minds of mankind to bring about the end of the Dvapara Yuga and the beginning of the Kali Yuga. During the first stage of the Kali Yuga, the varnashrama breaks down and deific worship is forsaken by man. All through the second, third, and fourth stages, man forgets the name of god and no longer offers yajna (offerings) to the devas.[4]
Brahma and the devas approach Vishnu for protection from the evils of the Kali Yuga. After listening to accounts of violence and injustice occurring in the universe, Vishnu promises to be born into the family of Vishnuyashas and Sumati, in a village called Shambala,[5] on the thirteenth day during the fortnight of the waxing moon. Many people will have to sacrifice their lives fighting for the birth of Kalki. At a young age, he is taught the holy scriptures on topics such as dharma, karma, artha, jāna, and undertakes military training under the care of the Parashurama (the sixth incarnation of Vishnu).[6] Soon, Kalki worships Shiva, who gets pleased by the devotion and provides him in return a divine white horse named Devadatta (a manifestation of Garuda), a powerful sword, whereby its handle is bedecked with jewels, and a parrot named Shuka, who is an all-knower; the past, the present and the future.[7] Other accessories are also given by other devas, devis, saints, and righteous kings. Kalki then marries princess Padmavati (an incarnation of Lakshmi), the daughter of King Vrihadratha and Queen Kaumudi of Simhala (the island of the lion) and princess Ramā, the daughter of King Shashidhvaja and Queen Sushanta.[8] He fights in many wars, ends evil, including Kali and his entire family bloodline, which is wiped out by the avatar's generals; he perishes from wounds inflicted by Dharma and Satya Yuga personified. Kalki, meanwhile, battles and simultaneously kills the asura's most powerful generals, Koka and Vikoka, twin asuras adept in the dark arts. Kalki then returns to Shambala to rule, inaugurates a new yuga for the good and divides the earth among his generals. Sumati and Vishnuyasha, his parents, will then travel to the holy place of Badrikashrama, where they will live. Kalki then leaves the earth to go to Vaikuntha as his dharma (duty) is completed.[8]
The Kalki Purana is a relatively recent text, likely composed in Bengal. Its dating terminus ante quem is the 18th-century.[8] It is likely Bengal because its earliest manuscripts have been found in Bengal, and these are Sanskrit written in Bengali script, states the historian Sumit Sarkar. The colophons of these manuscripts places them in the 18th-century.[9] According to the Indologist Wendy Doniger, the Kalki Purana is broadly dated by scholars between 1500 and 1700 CE, though these earlier dates are "misguided conjectures". No manuscripts from or before the 17th-century are known.[10]
According to Edwin Bernbaum, the Kalki Purana is a Hindu version of Shambala and its mythology has many features found in the Buddhist counterpart.[11] Other scholars such as John Newman state that Buddhists borrowed the Hindu concept of Kalki and adapted the concept in the text Kalachakra Tantra. They combined their idea of Shambhala with Kalki to reflect the theo-political situation they faced after the arrival of Islam in Central Asia and western Tibet.[12][13] The Buddhist texts also mention a king named Kalki from Shambhala who leads an army to destroy the Muslim persecutors of dhamma; then after the victory of good over evil and attainment of religious freedoms, Kalki ushers in a new era. The Buddhist text is dated to about the 10th-century.[14][15][16] While the Kalachakra Tantra likely borrowed the Kalki concept, the Kalki Purana post dates the Kalachakra Tantra. The much later era Buddhist text Vimalaprabha, which comments on Kalachakra Tantra, also mentions Kalki and provides details not found in Kalki Purana such as the Shambala being north of River Shita. According to John Newman, this river is also called Tarim River in central Asia (east Turkistan).[17]
The Kalki Purana (IAST: Kalki purāṇa) is a Vaishnavism-tradition Hindu text about the tenth avatar of Vishnu named Kalki. The myth-genre Sanskrit text was likely composed in Bengal during an era when the region was being ruled by the Bengal Sultanate or the Mughal Empire. Wendy Doniger dates it to sometime between 1500 CE and 1700 CE. It has a floruit of 1726 CE based on a manuscript discovered in Dacca, Bangladesh.
The extant text exists in many versions, which vary in structure and details. Some do not divide the text into sections and have about 35 chapters, others have three aṃśa (sections) with the first containing 7 chapters, second section another 7, and the third with 21 chapters. It is not one of the 18 Maha-Puranas (great Puranas), and is counted as an Upapurana or secondary Purana.
The text is a Vaishnavism tradition text, where Brahma and other gods approach Vishnu for protection from the evils of the Kali-yuga. After listening to stories of persecution, Vishnu promises to be born as Kalki in the family of Sumati and Vishnuyasha, in a village called Shambhala. He studies the Vedas and other texts, then marries a princess named Padmavati of Simhala kingdom. Kalki and his army then fight various wars and destroy all those who had persecuted and driven Hindu dharma out of their land. After the annihilation of the evil and restoration of the good, Kalki returns to Shambhala. This marks the end of Kali yuga, and the start of the new cycle of existence, with Satya yuga (also called Krita yuga). Kalki then returns to heaven, according to Kalki Purana.
According to Edwin Bernbaum, the Kalki Purana is a Hindu version of Shambala and its mythology has many features found in the Buddhist counterpart. Other scholars agree that Buddhists borrowed the Hindu concept of Kalki and implemented in Kalachakra The Buddhist texts also mention a king named Kalki from Shambhala who leads an army to destroy the persecutors of dhamma; then after the victory of good over evil and attainment of religious freedoms, Kalki ushers in a new era. The Buddhist text is dated to about the 10th-century.
About five thousand years ago, Sri Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa, an empowered incarnation of Lord Krsna, appeared in the holy land of Bharatavarsa. Realizing that as the four yugas progress, the human beings' power of understanding gradually diminishes; He divided the one Veda into four and imparted them to His four principal disciples. These four Vedas are the Same, RK, Yajur, and Atharva. Latter on, His disciples again divided the Vedas into many branches.
Even after dividing the Vedas, Srila Vyasadeva did not feel satisfied. Thinking that it will be impossible for the people of Kali-yuga to understanding the actual purport of the Vedas, He took the essence of that understanding and compiled a simple literature called the Purana Samhita in story form. Based on this literature, His three principal disciples wrote three more samhitas: Savarni-samhita, Samsapayana-samhita, and Akrtavrana-samhita. The eighteen Puranas and thirty-six sub Puranas were later complied, being based on these four samhitas. Because Srila Vyasadeva's Purana Samhita is the source of these literatures, all the Puranas and sub Puranas are attributed to him.
Among the upa-puranas or sub Puranas, the Kalki Purana is most sacred and widely respected. At the end of Kali -yuga, the Supreme Lord, Hari, will incarnate as Lord Kalki and kill all the mlecchas, yavanas, atheists, and Buddhists of the world that defy the Vedic authority. The pastimes of Lord Kalki are the subject matter of this literature, which is presented in story form. Exalted personalities can see everything, past, present and future.
May Lord Kalki, whose complexion is the door of a dark rain cloud, whose horse travels faster than the wind, who protects the righteous with His sword, who re- establishes the Satya-yuga after vanquishing Kali, shower His blessings upon you.
Among the upa-puranas or sub Puranas, the Kalki Purana is most sacred and widely respected. At the end of Kali -yuga, the Supreme Lord, Hari, will incarnate as Lord Kalki and kill all the mlecchas, yavanas, atheists, and Buddhists of the world that defy the Vedic authority. The pastimes of Lord Kalki are the subject matter of this literature, which is presented in story form. Exalted personalities can see everything, past, present and future. For this reason, there is no fault in narrating these future events as if they had already occurred. The Kalki Purana consists of thirty-five chapters.
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